Public deaths highlight the prevention of unauthorised site access

A specific duty of the CDM Principal Contractor is to “take reasonable steps to prevent access by unauthorised persons to the construction site”.

Two recent fatalities in other sectors involving members of the public highlight the hazard and the need for effective control of unauthorised access.

Crushed by a scrapyard grab claw

James Huntley & Sons Ltd of Sholing, Southampton, has been fined £50k and ordered to pay costs of over £34k after a member of the public died when the car he was sitting in was picked up by a crane fitted with a grab claw. He suffered major neck and shoulder injuries as he was crushed by the five-finger grab.

There were no warning signs around and outside the site to indicate which areas were out of bounds to members of the public and there were no published site rules or formal systems of work.

HSE Inspector Roger Upfold said:“This was a truly tragic miscommunication that led to a man’s death. Had simple measures been in place to control site access and let members of the public know where they should and shouldn’t go, this awful incident would probably never have happened.

The young girl and her friends gained access to the company quarry situated behind the brickworks which had no security fence or barrier.

She died when a 0.5 tonne boulder became dislodged and fell on top of her.

HSE Inspector Richard Noble said: the prosecution should be a “warning to other owners of quarries and construction sites that they have a responsibility to provide a secure, adequate barrier to prevent people getting in. In this case, the company was next to a housing estate, where children could easily gain access.”